5 Chapter 4 Part I

It had been ten days since he first woke up and every day, Arias still acted like he was still recovering from that near-death experience. He knew that Mashelle would send someone to keep an eye on him, so in order to avoid creating any suspicion, he had to put on a pretense. Whenever he had time, whether it be day or night, Arias would try to strengthen his magical power. He had also been practicing other combat skills. Although they were all skills that he had used before, he still needed to practice once again to master the skills and for his body to become accustomed to using them.

“I finally became a fifth-level neophyte. As it is now, my power should be somewhat useful.”

Arias opened his eyes with a smile. If anyone were to claim that a neophyte was able to advance from the first to fifth level within ten days, people would surely brush it off with a laugh thinking it was a joke. But Arias’ power had been increasing at a shocking speed. If it was not for that day’s incident, Arias would not have been able to progress this quickly. Even Arias was surprised by how fast it was.

Not far from Arias’ room, Danesse was listening to a report from one of the servants. Once he was filled in on the information, he carelessly tossed a bag of money at his informant who treated the bag as if it was a priceless treasure. After thanking Danesse with too much enthusiasm, the servant then proceeded to leave.

“Still a worthless loser as usual. What a waste of my time.”

Upon finding out that Arias did not do anything out of the ordinary, Danesse finally stopped concerning himself with Arias’ matter. Watching over his cousin’s moves had been a terribly dull job and he would not have done it if were not for Mashelle’s order. Danesse was about the same age as Arias but he was already a third-level neophyte. He never really cared about Arias’ existence.

Two days later, in Arias’ room.

“Hah! Gone at last! Finally, those dirty rats roaming around my room have stopped wasting my time.”

Arias swore, feeling irritable. Without any prying eyes, it was finally time to proceed with his plan. Arias sneaked out of the manor without anyone noticing. He was never the one to receive much attention anyway so nobody would notice even if he disappeared for a while.

The Scarcia manor was located not far away from the main city area and it took less than ten minutes for Arias to reach the city gate. While the Scarcia were not as powerful as the Hargen, they were still one of the City’s great clans. Arias only had to show the family emblem to the guards before they let him through without any ruckus.

Bernier was a city with hundreds of square kilometers of territory, with the main city area being located at the center. Its ruler was Coven the Duke, the king’s younger brother who was appointed to the city decades ago. The political structure of the city consisted of the Duke who held the highest authority, followed by the five great clans; the Scarcia, the Hobson, the Richart, the Johanness, and the Muller.

Upon reaching the city center, Arias began to look for a secluded place so that he could put on his grey hood. This would help conceal his status as one of the Scarcia’s heirs. With his face hidden behind the hood, he looked somewhat mysterious.

From his old memories, Arias did not have much information about the city. Even if the past Arias had been in Bernier City several times, he usually avoided interacting with people. There were some rumors that the Scarcia had a powerless heir but no one paid much attention to it. Not being well-known like this was an advantage since it meant he likely would not be recognized by anyone.

The business area was his current destination. After exploring the area for over an hour, he was beginning to understand its basic structure and the types of goods sold around here. The business section was full of the hustle and bustle of merchants and customers.

“Young man and young lady over there! Would you like to buy this sword? This one was crafted by Portal the crafter himself! It’s a low-level weapon but I assure you the power is even greater than the one you are carrying!”

“What? You mean the Portal?”

The sound of a merchant with a blue sword in his hand calling for more customers seemed to never stop. Finally, a muscular mage who appeared to be interested in the weapon showed up. This Portal guy was a crafter Arias had not heard of but taking one glance at the sword, he could tell that the aqua circuit inscribed onto the blade was not powerful enough. He walked on without paying any more attention to it.

“Come and take a look! We have newly acquired parts of wild beasts. Take a look if you’re interested. You can use this Flaming Deer antler to craft a mid-level weapon. I’ll give you a special price!”

“Would you like some nice clothes, sir? These are inscribed with protective magical circuits.”

Shouts from merchants trying to attract customers made the market quite lively at the moment.

“I only have six thousand Crystal Coins with me. Am I really a Scarcia heir? This is even less than what the city guards have!”

Six thousand Crystal Coins was in fact a large sum of money for the common folks. But for Arias who was the clan leader’s grandson to have this much seemed a little lacking.

Crystal Coin was the medium of exchange in the magic world. In general, an average household had an annual income of ten thousand Crystal Coins. If they were soldiers, they would earn more than that. As for the great clans such as the Scarcia, they earned millions of Crystal Coins per year. For an heir such as Arias to have only six thousand Crystal Coins with him, it could only be called lacking. The more he thought about it, the more he became furious by the clan’s stinginess.

Arias tried to suppress his anger and decided to enter a quiet herb-selling store. He did not want to attract attention or meet anyone he knew at the moment.

A fat middle-aged man was the only person inside the store. Upon seeing Arias, the man quickly approached him and welcomed him with a smile.

“What kind of herbs are you looking for, sir? Or is it magical quartz that you want? Or top-quality potions? This shop has it all. Whatever you desire, you can ask me! My name is Cater. I’m the shop owner. Oh! You’re covering your face? Perhaps you were wounded? Come! I have a great potion. I guarantee it will cure your wound within a month! Or...judging from your power, are you perhaps looking for a potion to increase your magical power? I have those too.”

Since the shop had not been receiving many customers and Arias was the first to walk in today, Cater welcomed him with much enthusiasm while smiling from ear to ear. Arias had not got the chance to make any request and the merchant had already started chattering about different items. The man talked too much and he was starting to give Arias a headache.

“Uh...I only need Crescent Moon Grass, Misty Grass, and Cloud Grass.”